"Soooo apparently Stevie Wonder recorded two albums with The Meters in 1979 in Detroit. An instrumental project called SuperEgo that was never released due to “lack of commercial power...” Face with open mouth
Here they are at the New Orleans Jazz Fest in 1973. photo by Michael P. Smith
SuperEgo is a short-lived instrumental project conceived and produced by Stevie Wonder in 1979.
Stevie, who had been growing his interest in electronic music, tried to create an album with constant BPMs and heavily use of overdubbing techniques. Often counting with The Meters as his backing band, Stevie recorded two albums (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2) at his home studio in Detroit through a nine-month period. Both albums were finished but never released and then abandoned due to "lack of commercial power", as he says
Personnel:
Stevie Wonder - piano, clavinet, drum machine, synthesizers Art Neville - hammond organ, synthesizers Ziggy Modeliste - drums Leo Nocentelli - guitar George Porter, Jr. - bass guitar
So he must have been recording Hotter Than July. I'm curious as to what The Meters and early 80s Stevie sounded like.
And if he recorded this in his home studio, did Motown know about it? I'm under the impression this is more vault stuff we won't get to hear since Stevie said he wants it all destroyed once he passes on.
This also hits on something else. I've always put Prince on this pedestal because the AMOUNT of work he put out for himself, his crew, stuff he gave away, and then all the bootleg stuff, and THEN touring on top of that. I'm thinking the amount of music he has sitting around is crazy.
Now for the first time I'm kinda thinking about Stevie in the same light. Like, I knew he had always had a vault. Like, it is well known the amount of material he created for Songs In The Key Of Life in 1976. Articles and interviews have said he had enough to drop 3 more albums. Then there's the album him and MJ did (Buttercup). Then the album he did for Wonderlove.
As far as music he was making, Stevie was right there.
He played the New Orleans Jazz fest a bunch of times so I am hoping that some live recording will pop up where they are playing something from this project on stage.
>I'm under the impression this is more vault stuff >we won't get to hear since Stevie said he wants it >all destroyed once he passes on.
This got to be the worst thing I've heard an artists of his prolific status has ever said, or has he, or was this mad years ago when he mentioned he wanted his vaulted recordings destroyed?
What's the purpose of having a vault of recorded material if you never plan to release any of it when you're alive or dead?
--------- "We in here talking about later career Prince records & your fool ass is cruising around in a time machine trying to collect props for a couple of sociopathic degenerates" - s.blak
15. "My point was about insurance. Having insurance isn't about..." In response to Reply # 14
....how likely something will or won't happen - it's about having something no matter what happens.
Possessing valuable recordings (why Stevie hasn't destroyed them yet) is wise no matter how "solid" stability (as evidenced by a move to Africa) is or isn't.
one of my favorite urban legends out here is people talking about seeing him driving lol.
i would brush it off as one of those crazy things you hear if a) i hadnt randomly seen him out and about around the way a few times, and b) considered the negligible value to be gained from the folks ive heard it from ha.
10. "The level of entitlement here is so extremely weird" In response to Reply # 7
>What's the purpose of having a vault of recorded material if >you never plan to release any of it when you're alive or dead?
Music is his life. Just like any other part of life, some of it happens to be private or he may keep around for memories or whatever. Music is shared with you every day, and you'll be perfectly ok not hearing everything Stevie ever made. And if you really care about the artist, it would be an honor to grant their wishes of not having their privacy violated.
I think it's safe to assume he's got a ton of shit from that period that's only barely gotten mentioned. I feel like a number of guests on QLS have mentioned working with Stevie on shit that never saw the sun.
I never knew he wanted it destroyed when he passes. There's always a chance that that is fluff or that he changes his mind. A lot of it probably depends on feeling like you have someone who can manage it with justice and respect to your wishes. Unfortunately, a lot of folks get burned in the industry by the folks they are *supposed* to be able to trust that they probably struggle to identify folks who will really take care of their legacy rather than just sell it off to the highest bidder.
Remember there was that OKP that used to drop random unreleased Stevie shit back in the day but - if I remember right - it was like thirty-second snippets? That shit was crazy aggravating, lol.
somebody on here had posted a site that had concert recordings of Wonderluv from the early 70s. That is how I got access to some of Stevies stuff that never made it to a record.
#NP: Janelle Monae-DC, Pusha T-Daytona, Royce-Book of Ryan, Blue Note All-Stars-OPOV, Chris Dave/Drumhedz-Glow, Conway-GOAT, Black Milk-Fever, KRIT-4eva Is a Mighty.., Phonte-NNIGN, August Greene, Jericho Jackson @LargesseMorlu
13. "I'd love to hear it" In response to Reply # 0
but if it's one of the things Stevie doesn't want to share, I'd be happy not to as well. I'll either find out how dope it is or be forced to imagine how underwhelming it was lol. It's hard to imagine this not turning out fantastic, but I think we all know those super teams don't always come up with the fire we'd expect them to.
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